


lupus est homo homini

by sarah_manning



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: F/F, ob got au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-22
Updated: 2014-10-20
Packaged: 2018-02-18 09:03:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2342786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarah_manning/pseuds/sarah_manning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"But beasts do not consider what they could have, what they could be, and that is why Rachel thought them lesser. She did not merely want to survive, she wanted to flourish, and that is why she took what was rightfully hers."</p><p>In which Rachel is a Lannister and wants one thing: to keep hold of the Iron Throne.</p><p>This story comes from the Propunk Game of Thrones alternate universe that tumblr user sharkodactyl (piggy09 on here) and I (tumblr user transsawicki) have been collaborating on for a while.</p><p>ON HIATUS</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. but all of the heroes are dead

**Author's Note:**

> this is a series of drabbles that flow together, so the chapters will be short, and the updates will come sporadically. 
> 
> warning: this is a game of thrones au. basically warnings for anything that happens in game of thrones/a song of ice and fire. i'm not sure how graphic this will be yet, but right now there's mentions of murder and possibly dub con (due to both parties consuming alcohol before intercourse).

Beasts have no rational thought, no integrity, no honor, just their jaw-snapping, throat-tearing, animalistic instincts. They are most dangerous to their peers and those below them. They trample anything in their path; they’re careless. Beasts do not consider whom their prey will leave behind; they kill because of need, because they will do anything to survive. 

But beasts do not consider what they could have, what they could be, and that is why Rachel thought them lesser. She did not merely want to survive, she wanted to flourish, and that is why she took what was rightfully hers. 

Rachel was to be wed to a lord of the Reach, so her father could strengthen the throne’s relations with the most fertile and one of the wealthiest areas of Westeros. She journeyed with her father from King’s Landing to the lord’s keep to discuss a union between the families.  
It was nearly painless seducing her way into the lord’s bed, and soon they were wed at one of the most lavish weddings the Reach had ever seen. Soon thereafter, her dearly beloved had fallen ill with a mysterious sickness, and passed two weeks later. 

The feast after the lord’s funeral rites were performed was a somber affair. Rachel sat to the left of her father, the king, gripping his hand as a single tear trailed down her cheek.

After the drunken songs had started and the children of the court were sent to their bedchambers, Rachel excused herself for the night. One at her chambers she dismissed her maids with teary eyes and a sniff after she spoke.

About an hour after Rachel had settled into her bed there was rapping at her door. She rose, opened to the door, and was met with a wide-eyed guard.

“The king is dead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if it's too annoying of me to have this on here because it's so short, let me know and i'll keep it exclusively on tumblr.


	2. au reste, après moi, le deluge

With use of heavy-handed tactics Rachel was able to secure both the Reach and the Iron Throne for herself. All who had contested her rights to what she had taken were either paid off handsomely, sent to the Wall, poisoned, or had since disappeared. 

When she arrived back in King’s Landing she immediately had the small council removed from their posts, including her deceased father’s former Hand of the King. She appointed men she had had wrapped around her finger from the time she was a young girl. And now, at the age of 17, she took her rightful place on the Iron Throne.

Rachel was a decidedly fair ruler, providing for her kingdom and its people, while keeping a firm grip on her authority. She did not let religion cloud her judgment, nor was she swayed by the offer of gold, as she was by far the richest person in the Seven Kingdoms.

Her lord husband’s death was as good of an excuse as any to not remarry, although she had many young men with many different titles in her bed night after night.

During the celebrations on her 18th name day Rachel promised that she would consider employing the champion of her tourney as a sellsword. She met with the winner, Ser Daniel of House Harlaw, during the evening, and after sharing a bottle of wine, Rachel invited him to her bedchambers. At dawn the following day she assigned Daniel to go North to keep an eye on the Starks, as there were growing whispers of discontent among the Northerners, whispers telling tales of murder and bribery.

Within two fortnights she received a raven. There weren’t just whispers of discontent among the Northerners, there were drunken calls in taverns throughout the North for a march on King’s Landing. Winterfell was keeping its people in line for the meantime, but it was unknown if the Starks were heeding the calls of their people.

And so, Rachel Lannister, Queen of the Andals and the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm, ordered her troops north.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you've enjoyed this fic so far!


	3. cold as the winter wind

For the second time in the past decade, the Lannister army marched north. They advanced as far as the Neck, south of Moat Cailin, before they were ordered to halt. A raven was sent to the Starks, commanding them to take control of their people, otherwise the queen’s army would occupy the North, from Greywater Watch to the Wall, and put the Northerners in their place. There would be no tolerance for disloyalty.

Back in King’s Landing a letter from Ser Daniel was received. He had journeyed as far as Hornwood, where rumors were circulating that a Stark child was missing from Winterfell. A raven was immediately dispatched ordering Daniel to recover the girl before any allies of the Starks found her.

\---

After nearly three years of limited compliance from the Starks in reining their people in, the Lannister army had advanced, inch by inch, in a pincer movement closing in on Winterfell. While no direct fighting between the two houses had occurred, relations were tense, with neither side willing to back down, at least until one side received news that could tip the scales in their favor.

Ser Daniel had found Sarah Stark in a small tavern south of Barrowtown, and was on his way back with the girl. She would be an excellent bargaining chip in making the Starks comply with Rachel’s demands.

\---

Three weeks later and Sarah was in the queen’s possession. She would be brought to Rachel’s chambers as soon as she was cleaned up.

Her maids had prepared two place settings at the table on her balcony, complete with a jug of red wine and a summer roast. As Rachel took a seat and crossed her legs, one of her maids served her a glass of wine.

A few minutes later there was a knock on her door and Rachel looked to her maid to open the door. A figure clad in a linen tunic and red trousers stumbled in, followed closely by Daniel and a member of the Kingsguard. 

“Hello, Sarah. I’m glad you made it.”

The figure stopped in its tracks and looked up, revealing wide eyes, quickly narrowing, and a scowl, verging on a snarl. Daniel pushed Sarah forward toward the balcony where she took a lunge at Rachel, who merely leaned back.

Daniel grabbed the girl’s shoulder. “Behave, Stark. You don’t want to return to the dungeons.”

Rachel gestured toward the table. “Do sit down. You must be hungry, it’s a long journey from the North.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay plot progression! i'm expecting the next chapters to be longer and written a bit differently, but i don't know yet. i am an unreliable author.
> 
> anyway, thanks for reading!


	4. let's be cold to create heat

“Your family is not coming for you. The sooner you can accept that, the easier it will be for you to adjust to your new life here.”

Rachel was seated at the head of the table with Sarah directly to her left, Daniel only two paces behind with his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Sarah looked up from having her head bent over her plate and snorted. “You’d like that, wouldn’t ya Rachel?” As soon as Sarah spoke the queen’s name, Daniel advanced but backed down once he saw the look Rachel was giving him. “It’d be far less complicated to have an obedient lapdog than having to train a direwolf, wouldn’t it? Sorry, but being dragged here against my will doesn’t exactly endear me to you.”

Rachel took a sip of her wine and then made eye contact with Sarah. “I think you will find that you will learn your place here, in time. In the meantime I have something that might assist you in the process. Daniel?”

Daniel disappeared into the queen’s chambers for a moment, Sarah’s eyes trailing his figure the entire way. A few moments passed and then he emerged holding something wrapped in silk damask cloth. He carried the item over to Rachel and placed it on the table in front of her. Unfolding it, Rachel revealed a golden collar engraved with battling lions and direwolves. 

“I don’t know what you’re plannin’ to do with that, but you sure as seven hells aren’t going to put that on me,” Sarah said as he began to scoot her chair away from the table.

Daniel stopped the backward movement of the chair by placing his arms on either side and leaned forward. “Think again, Stark.” He pushed Sarah’s chair directly in front of Rachel, who had turned her own to the left. Sarah again attempted to move her chair but the knight behind her held it steady. Figuring out a different way to escape Sarah brought her hands to the queen’s neck, who had turned to pick the collar up off of the table, slowly squeezing tighter and tighter. Surprised at the loss of control, Rachel frantically pulled at Sarah’s hands, eyes wide.

“You bitch…”

Almost as quick as Sarah had acted there was a dagger in front of her throat. “Now, now, Miss Stark. Let’s not spill any unnecessary blood tonight.” Sarah’s grip slowly loosened around the queen’s throat. Rachel gasped once, doubling over for a second, before regaining her cold sense of composure and putting on a slight smirk.

“It would be so much simpler if you’d just submit, Sarah.” Rachel placed the collar in her lap and reached behind her neck to bring up a chain with a key dangling from it. Sarah watched as Rachel brought the key down to the collar. With a click the collar split apart on a hinge.

“B-been planning this for a while, h-haven’t you?” Sarah sat back in her chair. She tried to smirk, but the fear in her eyes betrayed her discomfort.

Rachel leaned forward and made eye contact, face a few inches away from Sarah’s. She brought the collar up around Sarah’s neck, reconnecting the two halves. “Perceptive, aren’t you? Very good.”

As Rachel withdrew Sarah immediately moved her hands to her neck, glaring at the queen.

Rachel stood up and moved toward her bedchambers. "Daniel, would you please escort our guest to her new accommodations?" Daniel nodded and gripped Sarah's shoulder.

Standing in the doorway between her living chambers and bedchambers, Rachel turned back to look at Sarah one more time and said, "I will see you tomorrow, Lady Stark,” before closing the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!


End file.
